When Uko took Akwaaba to Zanzibar’s jumping guys, sold ‘tourism money’ to Nigeria

Every country has one or two prime brand tourism product(s) that always project the countries potentialities, directly or indirectly. For Nigeria, one of the MICE frontliners is the Akwaaba African Travel Market (AfTM), which, in the past two decades successfully explored the value chain of the MICE industry to build, promote and sustain a brand equity for domestic and international tourists and visitors to see Nigeria’s vast tourism and investment opportunities and the fantastic people in the country.

This scenario played out in Zanzibar during a recent visit by Ambassador Ikechi Uko, who stood at the edge of Stone Town’s old harbour, watching Zanzibar’s famous wapiga mbizi — the water skill jumping guys — arc into the Indian Ocean. They weren’t just diving for coins this time. On their wrists were Akwaaba blue bands. On their lips was one word: “Akwaaba.” It was Nigeria, marketing itself in East Africa.

The stunt was simple and deliberate. Uko, founder of Akwaaba African Travel Market, brought the Akwaaba brand to Zanzibar to show what he calls the “magic of tourism money.” No billboards. No TV ads. Just culture, courage, and a flag unfurled mid-air as the jumpers hit the water.

“Tourism Money is like Magic Money. It keeps dropping from heaven,” Uko said later, laughing as he wiped salt from his glasses.

He had come to Zanzibar, not only to watch, but to learn why a tiny island could out-earn entire Nigerian states.

The numbers explain it. In July alone, Zanzibar received 100,000 tourists. Every single one paid $44 for travel insurance to ZIC. Every visitor also paid $5 city tax, 18 percent VAT, airport tax and charges. Then came aviation charges for landing and overflights, and handling charges. The cash never stops.

The spending doesn’t stop at the airport. “I stayed in a $390 a night ocean view room,” Uko noted. “Most rooms are from $90 to $900. The villas run in the thousand dollar range.” Add activities, dhow cruises, spice tours, and diving, and you see why the island keeps minting dollars.

Zanzibar is small — “smaller than a small LGA in Lagos,” Uko said. Yet, it turns that size into advantage. Limited land means high demand.

“High demand means high rates. High rates mean tourism dollars that circulate through hotels, taxis, guides, restaurants, and the jumping guys themselves.

The jumping guys are part of the product. For generations they have leapt from the harbor wall, twisting for tourists.

On the day of the Akwaaba stunt, they leapt with purpose. Each dive ended with a splash and a shout of “Welcome to Africa.” Phones recorded. The clip went viral in Lagos by nightfall.

Uko’s message was clear: Nigeria has the same ingredients. “All you need is security, facilities, and access. Then Market and boom.” Zanzibar didn’t become a tourism dollar factory by accident. It invested in safety, cleaned its waterfront, built its airport, and told its story.

That story is now being told back home.

The Zanzibar Tour Operators Association, ZATO, accepted Uko’s invitation and will be in Lagos from the September 13 to 15, for Akwaaba African Travel Market. They are coming with packages, rates, and partnerships for Nigerian agents.

Akwaaba has become more than a fair. It is a bridge. This year it links with Accra Weizo and Seven Wonders of Nigeria.

 It also powers AT News, travellerstvng, and Jedidah Promotions to amplify African destinations to Africans first. The Zanzibar stunt was episode one.

What Uko saw in Zanzibar is what he wants Nigeria to copy: a tourism economy that pays every day; insurance, taxes, hotel, food, activities. “Tourism is a gift that keeps giving,” he said. “You don’t drill it. You don’t export it. People come to you.”

The marketing was respectful. The jumpers were paid, credited, and given Akwaaba gear they could keep. Elders in Stone Town blessed the collaboration after Uko explained it was East-West, not foreign extraction. “We came to celebrate African talent,” he told them.

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The impact was immediate. Nigerian travel agents on the Akwaaba WhatsApp groups began asking for Zanzibar rates. ZATO reported a surge in inquiries from Abuja and Port Harcourt. For the first time, a Lagos-Stone Town package is being discussed seriously.

For Uko, the stunt proves a thesis he has preached for 20 years: intra-African travel will fund intra-African growth. You don’t need Europe’s tourists to start. You need your neighbor’s tourists. And you need to market with memory, not just brochures.

As the sun set over the harbor, the last jumper climbed the wall, Akwaaba flag in hand. He jumped, the flag opened, and the crowd roared. Magic money, Uko whispered.